


Rot

by aerum (CatReginae)



Series: Aerum's LinkedUniverse Oneshots [4]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, LinkedUniverse - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: AU based on a tumblr post, Crossover, Gen, I hate ReDeads, Legend of Zelda AU, Linked Universe, LinkedUniverse, No Beta, Taks place in a graveyard of course, probably not canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-26 17:35:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18183662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatReginae/pseuds/aerum
Summary: While looking for bokoblins near a graveyard, Sky and Wild encounter something else in the fog. This contains a reference to Castletown Context, but it is not required to read that to understand this one.





	Rot

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic is part of the LinkedUniverse AU, which is made by @jojo56830 on tumblr. If you haven't checked it out already you can do so [here!](https://linkeduniverse.tumblr.com/) I highly recommend it!
> 
> Again, this one takes some liberties, as I don't know the plot and it isn't based off of anything already posted.

Another chill ran down Wild's back as he cautiously trudged forward. Sky was beside him, looking just about uncertain as he was feeling about the place. It was a wooded area, with a path that they were still hopefully on, guided only by the vague words of villagers. They said they had a bokoblin problem nearby, and most of them offered to help with a second thought, but when the fog started to roll in, Legends and Captain began swearing and mumbling about how they should have waited. They resorted to lanterns and torches, but even with the extra light, some of their companions only appeared as dark shapes against the horizon to Wild and Sky, who were taking up the rear.

Sky tripped and let out a yelp. Wild helped him to his feet, shedding light on the thing Sky managed to trip on. It was a stone marker, with weathered letters that didn't resemble the Hylian that either one of them knew. When he waved his torch around, he could see other markers like it popping on either side of their path. At some point, they've walked into a small graveyard and couldn't tell when. For some reason, the thought was a little unsettling, like they trespassing into somewhere sacred. No wonder the place give him the chills.

“Hey, where did the villages say where those bokoblins were again?” Sky asked out loud.

“I think near a graveyard,” Four's voice answered. “They said that they couldn't pay their respects because the bokoblins were in the way.”

“Well, we're in the graveyard. How did we miss the bokoblins?” Wild asked. If the bokoblins were blocking people from entering, they should have seen a sign of them. The fog was definitely heavy enough to miss them if they were in the distance, and maybe the noises they made covered the noises the bokoblins would have made. However, his instincts were telling him that something wasn't right, that something was close, and it wasn't just the fact that he was in a graveyard that was irking him. Wild came to know to trust his instincts too – they saved him from the Yiga more times than he could count.

“Maybe they're just not here today, for whatever reason,” Captain mumbled. “It might be the fog. If it limits our vision, it'll limit theirs too. It was a bad day to come out, that's all.”

Wild could only shrug. It wasn't like the sun was shining earlier, but he couldn't see any signs of the fog when they left the village, especially one that was so dense. It was almost like the Lost Woods, where the fog could swallow you and spit you back out if you weren't careful. He even watched the embers from his torch, just to make sure they didn't suddenly change directions on him like they would have in the Lost Woods. Of course, the fog that surrounded them wasn't anything like that, but it did manage to catch all of them off guard.

“Should we go back and try again tomorrow?” Wind asked.

“It might our best bet,” Time said. Wild watch the shapes in front of him turn around, so he and Sky turned to head back into the direction that they came from, but stopped when they heard a low groan. It was so quiet that Wild wondered if he even heard it, but Sky was giving him an apprehensive glance, biting his lips. They both jumped when they heard it again. Wild held out his torch in front of him, and when he did, he could see a figure standing in front of them, not too far from where they were standing. It was looking at the ground, its shoulders stiff and held high.

Suddenly, dread filled his entire body, chilling him to the bone like he was dropped into freezing water. Then, he couldn't feel his body. He was frozen, with his arm still out and holding the torch. He could see his hand shaking and trembling, but he couldn't feel it. A loud, piercing scream filled the air, shaking his very soul.

_Move, damn it, move!_

Being unable to do anything was what terrified him the most, regardless if he was the one in danger or not. He could watch the figure step closer, he could even smell it, like a rotting corpse. There was nothing he could do though. He couldn't even see if Sky was also in the same position he was in, but he had no doubt that Sky was frozen just like he was. He wouldn't let it get so close otherwise.

_It's getting close._

Wild willed his body to move, even if it just meant trying to move his fingers or toes, but feeling had yet to return. He was stuck looking forward, his eyes glued to the figure in front of him. It was emaciated, not much more than just leathery skin pulled tightly over bones. He heard another scream, but he couldn't see it move its mouth from under its wooden mask. He couldn't even see its eyes, yet it stared at him intensely.

_Move move move move move move._

Suddenly, it lunged forward, reaching out for him. Usually, he didn't mind dead things. In fact, they were kind of an annoyance when he travelled at night. However, they were all skeletal, the only thing vaguely fleshy were the eyes that remained. However, whatever this thing was, it still had flesh, even if it was decaying. It stalked them and paralyzed them, instantly making unsettling than any of the skeletal beings he came across, and that said nothing about its scream.

Sky regained control first, pulling the Master Sword through from its sheath in a blur and slicing through its outstretched arm. He followed up, bringing the sword around to slash it through its side. Before Wild could do anything to help Sky though, Time slipped in front of them, swinging the Biggoron sword through the ReDead like it was merely fabric, not flesh and bone. It collapsed with a final groan, but apparently not convinced of its defeat, Time stabbed it one more time, driving the sword through its back. Sky and Wild could only stare as Time retrieved his sword with a small tug.

After watching for a moment longer to make sure it was getting back up, Wild let out a deep sigh, his shoulders slumping. It was over. It was safe, at least for the time being. His instincts weren't screaming that something was wrong, his heart rate was beginning to slow, and his breathing was steady. It was awful in the moment, but when it was all over, he was feeling surprisingly fine. It wasn't a experience that he cared to ever repeat, but he was fine.

Wild looked to Sky. He seemed a little dumbfounded, studying the remains with a quirked eyebrow, but otherwise, he seemed fine as well. He didn't even seem all that fazed, just curious.

“Are you two alright?” Time asked quietly, turning to face them.

“It didn't touch us. We're fine,” Wild mumbled. “What was it though?” he asked, holding the torch out yet again, illuminating the corpse on the ground.

“A ReDead. I told you about them before,” he said, kneeling down beside the ReDead to inspect it closer. Wild blinked, then remembered his conversation with Time from before, back in Twilight's Castletown. He couldn't connect the dots when he was paralyzed and trembling with fear he wasn't entire sure was completely his own, but now that he could think straight, he could definitely see what Time was talking about.

He shivered as his mind wandered, imaging a ruined town that was full of ReDeads. It was a wonder that his Hyrule didn't have anything like them though. His Hyrule was one were monsters were reanimated whenever a red moon rose and skeletons crawled out of the ground every night, but there wasn't anything that resembled a ReDead. As long as the Calamity had its poisonous grip on the land, death meant nothing to the monsters. The Hylians were allowed to remain dead – not even the Calamity would touch them.

“Is something wrong there, Time?” Sky asked, his focus shifting the ReDead to Time. He stepped closer, sheathing the Master Sword as he did so.

“I'm pretty sure it's a ReDead from my Hyrule, but I'm certain that isn't my Hyrule and we aren't in...” He shook his head, then, slowly rose to his full height. “Maybe somebody else has ReDeads that look like mine, or else we could be in trouble. It's one thing to make monsters stronger or to change their behaviours, but it's another to move them around.”

The thought settled for a moment before a shout from behind caugh their attention.

“We couldn't find any more of those things,” Captain reported as the others finally met up with them, pooling around behind them. “And I think the fog is beginning to clear, so now is a good time to head back. It's starting to get dark, so I don't think there's a point in trying to looking for any bokoblins now.”

Time nodded. “Let's get going then. We'll get some rest, and try again.”

There was a collective mumble, but they all followed Time as he led the way. Wild took one last look back at the graveyard before Twilight tapped on his shoulder, urging him along.

“Everything fine?”

“Yeah, fine,” he answered, following behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to throw a ReDead at Wild for a while, even before writing Castletown Context where Time briefly talks about them. There's no particular reason for it, I just thought it would be a fun idea, so here we are! 
> 
> I personally like to think ReDeads were people once. I think the games imply a bit, but then you have Smash saying that were never people (but let's be honest, it's Smash, not the most canon thing ever). 
> 
> I've also started posting these on my [tumblr](https://catreginae.tumblr.com). I consider requests here of course, but you can now hit me up on tumblr too.


End file.
